This was an invitational match organised between the Jubilee Nomads during the Christmas break and a few invited guests fishing on the Penn pool at Hawford Bridge Fisheries.   

This was my first ever visit to this fishery so I had to ask around and do a bit of internet research before the match regarding the average depths and size of fish expected. I learnt that this pool is an out and out Carp pool that produces big weights in the summer months but I couldn’t really find out much on how it fishes in the winter months. 

On arrival at my peg I found a reed bed at 13 metres with about 4 foot of water just off it with the depth going down to 6 foot in the middle and 5 foot in the margins. So I planned to fish Corn and pellet over to the Reed bed, Soft pellet in the middle of the peg and corn in the left margin just off another reed bed to the left. 

I fed these lines at the start and then threw out a bomb hair rigged with three 10mm bread discs towards an island about 100 metres to my left and waited. 

I didn’t have to wait long, the tip of my rod twitched and I lifted into a carp around 4lb after 10 minutes. A good start! The tip pulled round again 20 minutes later with another carp, only for the hook to pull out at the net! But this still gave me the confidence to stay on the bread and bomb and 20 minutes later another small carp pulled the tip round and it was landed safely this time. 

The next 40 minutes were slow going and I throw around different areas looking for more carp but I couldn’t get anymore bites. I’d been feeding my pole lines now for a couple of hours and I tried these next. This resulted in one small carp caught on corn from the far reed bed swim. The pole lines weren’t producing so back on the bomb I went. 

I hit on a nice purple spell for the next hour landing 6 more carp on the bread and bomb line but then going into the last 40 minutes of the match the bomb line died on me. So I was left with a decision to make. Do I try the pole again or stay on the bomb. I decided to try the far reed bed pole line again, it was the only pole line that had produced a bite earlier and I had been feeding it with a few grains of corn every 10 minutes while I’d been on the bomb. I decided I would give it a go for 10 minutes and if no bites came I would finish the match on the bomb. 

I waited only 5 minutes before I got a bite this time and I caught a carp around 3lb and then another 10 minutes later. I’d now caught 11 carp in total and looking around the pool I felt as already in a framing position.  

I then hooked a carp and got broke and this must have spooked any carp in the swim because I never had another bite. But luckily my 11 carp weighed in at 32lb 0oz which was enough to end up 2nd in the match.  

This was another enjoyable days fishing catching 32lb at the end of December is good and I enjoyed the day on the bomb rod. Something I don’t do that often. I really need to visit this venue in the summer I bet its great fishing.  

Bomb rod set up –  10ft Preston Innovations Mini plus rod and a Daiwa TDR 2508 reel loaded with 6lb XT Tournament main line with a 20g Preston Innovation ICS Bomb with a 15 inch 0.17mm hook lenght tied to a size 18 Preston Innovations hair rigged KKM hook, baited with three 10mm bread disc’s